Good things and bad things that happen to you as a mum

Hi,I am a student and mum studying a design course with the Open University (which I highly recommend for any mums who can find a small amount of spare time). I am currently developing a board game about being a mum, for my course and I would be really grateful for your thoughts. I need to create a list of good and bad things that happen to mums. These will then be used to create bonus and penalty cards for my game. As a mum to two girls aged three and four I have been able to list quite a few things but would be interested to hear from other mums what their experiences are. What are the things that make you happy in a day? What makes you pull you hair out?! It would be useful for me to know the ages of your children too.Many thanks in advance for any feedback you can give me.Shelley

Hi, you are doing well to go uni and be a mum !hope I can give you some ideas although you may already have experienced these. I have two children ds (7 years and dd 2 years) BAD GOODfalling down stairs Hugs,cuddlesalmost being squashed by cupboard saying I love you mum(dh rescued her just in time!) Birthdays,christmas, days not getting time for you outfalling over doing well at schoolhousework(never ending) first times they do thingsillnesscan't think of anymore at the mo, hope these help.

- The bit where your baby gets all fat and creasy and luscious, and you're allowed to kiss their fat creasy luscious self all over- The massive whole-body hugs- Watching your older child do something kind for your younger child- Seeing your younger child hero-worship your older child- Watching them sleep. Thinking you might actually explode from how much you love them- The first night they sleep through- The mad conversations about why cats like / don't like cheese, and whether cars get lonely at night- The first time they make you something as a present- Throwing them their first birthday party. Spending most of it celebrating the fact that you've survived the year- Seeing them get totally fascinated with unexpected things, like posting stones into the drain-cover in the back garden, or falling passionately in love with a particular brick from the brick-box

Bad stuff:- Giving birth and realising that your body has not magically returned to its former state- Looking in the mirror six weeks later and realising that it still has not magically returned to its former state- About a year down the line, finally acknowledging that your body will never magically return to its former state- The moment when you discover that, for no rational reason, you simply cannot bear your MiL to be anywhere near the baby. My best explanation for this is that I found it weird that she was related to my baby, but not to me. (For the record, my MiL is lovely. Even at the time I was ashamed of myself. But I still didn't like her holding my babies.)- Giving your baby your purse or your keys to play with in their pushchair, then getting home and discovering they have secretly thrown the purse / keys away when you weren't looking- That gigantic, hollow-headed, double-barrelled sneeze thing- Anything to do with pureed carrots

Ok well my baby is only 7 months old but I do have some very memborable moments from so far:

Good... the first smile, giggle, squeak of laughter; breastfeeding; co-sleeping; her wolfing down one of mummy's homemade purees; playing together with a load of pots and pans, wooden spoons etc; her crying when I leave the room; the first babbles of constant 'dadadada' even though I keep telling her my name is 'mama'; dressing her up in adorable little outfits; watching other people coo over her.

Not so good... teething in the dead of night; nappy rash and metanium; projectile vomits, particularly the ones cover you from head to toe just as you're about to walk out the door; suddenly noticing a full nappy just as you're about to walk out the door; screaming blue murder on a crowded bus even though there is nothing actually wrong just wanting attention and having to explain this to every nosey parker who wants to know what on earth I am doing or not doing to the poor child; trying to cut fingernails/toenails.

Ooo the not so good list looks longer than the good! Haha looks much worse than I meant it to be, the goods of course far outweigh the bads.

Good thingsWhen the randomly tell you they love you and give you a hug for no reason.Watching them sleepingWhen they are kind to other childrenWhen they tell jokes - often only funny to them

Bad thingsWhen they fight and argue with their siblingsWhen they are sickWhen the fart in your faceWhen they ask you to see if thier bottom needs wiping.How the never have a lie in apart from when you need to get somewhere really earlyHow it is impossible to get them to hurry up

Good - the holy grail of drinking a whole cup of tea while it is still hot - getting out of the house with everything you need on time with everyone looking neat and tidy - seeing them laugh histerically - giving them a bubble bath

Bad - being so tired that you would actually pefer to be waterboarded than this particular form of torture - The heart stopping moment when they nearly run in front of a car - your toddler having a public tantrum and feeling like everyone is judging you

BAD2yr old DD says "Mummy I can say this word: "shit!"!" hangover <after first night out in nearly a half a decade in which you only had 3 glasses of wine anyway> with 2 preschoolers jumping on your bed

GOODelderly couples in cafes admiring your gorgeous, well-behaved, well-spoken DCwhispering "I love you" to then as they fall asleep and hearing one of them mumble it back in semi sleep

Wow, thank you so much to all of you for taking the time to help me. I will definitely be using your ideas in my game which is turning out to be quite comical, thanks largely to all of you and your great sense of humour- we would be insane without that! I can really relate to so many of these. Thank you again.

you are doing U101 aren't you? I did it last year and really enjoyed it. I did a school run game, so did cards for things like 'you have to go home and get the forgotten lunchbox' or 'you have to take the dog to the emergency vets'. But I love the idea of the luxury poo, ha ha!! good luck with your studies! Keep a good supply of post it notes!